


Poor Unfortunate Souls

by Green_Eyed_Dragon_Fanfiction



Series: The Monster Series Collection [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Mermaid!Reader, cecaelia!bucky, cecaelia!natasha, gratuitous fluff, monster!character, octopus person!bucky, spooktober 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-24 10:41:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16173431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Green_Eyed_Dragon_Fanfiction/pseuds/Green_Eyed_Dragon_Fanfiction
Summary: You ask for a cecaelia’s help. He gives it surprisingly easily.





	Poor Unfortunate Souls

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Disfigurement 
> 
> If you want to request another Monster!Character, you can drop a comment on any of the fics in the Monster!Series Collection, giving me a prompt and telling me what Monster!Character you want to see! Please don't request Monster!Character I've already done (for example, demon!bucky or vampire!steve). You can request any character from the following universes: MCU, Mass Effect, X-Men, Harry Potter, Supernatural, and Dragon Age. Requesting something doesn't mean I'll choose it, but it doesn't hurt to ask!

Cecaelia live in the deep, where bottom feeders prosper and the light from the surface barely reaches. The merfolk, who live in their sprawling cities of coral and gleaming stone, tell their guppies from an early age to never visit the cecaelia. They fulfill your requests, yes, but they’re conniving and cunning and it always comes with a price that is never worth paying.

And yet you find yourself outside the lair of one such creature, hesitant and alone, your friends having abandoned you hundreds of feet/meters up ago.

It’s so dark you don’t see it, at first. The telltale movement of something in the water. Your fins pick it up, though, and you look around warily, paddling backwards nervously.

Suddenly, bubbles of phosphorescent algae light up and the huge underwater cavern is bathed in nearly blinding light. However, you have the feeling you can only see a small part of it, as the light doesn’t reveal any walls except the one directly behind you.

A cecaelia stares at you with shockingly bright steel blue eyes. His jet black tentacles anchor him against the slight current and, except for the gentle sway of his limbs, he hasn’t made a move. He’s devastatingly handsome, even by mer standards.

“What brings you here, mermaid?” he asks you, head tilted to the side in question.

You steel yourself and puff out your chest a bit, hoping to look braver than you feel. “I’m here to make a deal.”

His eyes narrow, but he still doesn’t make a move towards you. “Name your request and I’ll name my price.”

“I wish for my scales to shine brighter, so I might catch the eye of the mer I desire.”

The only warning you have is the small twitch of a tentacle and suddenly he’s in front of you, black tentacles splayed and undulating under him.

You flap your tail hard to move back and put room between you, but a tentacle wraps itself around your wrist and holds you in place.

“Release me!” you screech in horror. This had been a terrible idea.

“I will, but you must promise not to propel yourself into the wall behind you,” he says, nodding towards a spot over your shoulder.

You turn your head, surprised to find the wall close enough to you that could rest your forehead on it if you so desired.

When you turn back to him a faint smile is on his lips and he releases your arm. You rub at your wrist tenderly, eyeing the light marks his suckers left against your skin.

“I’ll do it for you.”

Your gaze snaps back to him, wary but hopeful. “And your price?”

His gaze is sharp, posture something you can’t quite put a name to. “You must tell me your name.”

You stare at him for a second, surprised, before you nod once sharply. “You have a deal,” you say as you extend your hand.

Instead of taking it with his own, however, one of his tentacles comes up, wraps itself around your hand, and shakes it. The touch is over in the span of a heartbeat, but the feeling of his tentacle lingers on your skin. You fight back a shiver at the thought of how powerful and dexterous they are.

“Stay here,” he says simply, giving you one last look before turning his back on you and disappearing into the inky black darkness that the globes of luminescent algae can’t seem to penetrate.

You fidget nervously, feeling as though you’re in the open due to your inability to see beyond the halo of light.

But then he’s back, a glimmering shell in his hand. It catches the light like only the shiniest treasures in Atlantis’ palace do and you find yourself staring at it with rapt attention.

You don’t see the way he stares at you with as much intensety as you stare at the trinket in his hand as he crushes the shell in his palm and waves the fine, shimmering dust in your direction. The dust clings to your tail and you let out a small gasp as it melds into your scales, imbuing it with the same luminescence the shell possessed. Even in the glow of the algae, your tail sparkles like gems, scatting the light against the sandy floor.

You look up at him, wonder on your face, only to find him staring at you intently. The smile on your face turns hesitant. “Thank you,” you whisper, awed.

He nods a bit stiffly, and gives you an expectant look that makes you clap a hand to your forehead.

“Right! My apologies. My name is (Y/N),” you murmur nervously, smile tight.

His smile is small but genuine and, instead of responding, he gestures to the entrance to the cavern behind you.

Tasting freedom, you turn on your tail and swim briskly towards the exit, more than a little distracted by your tail.

You stop at the end of the rough hewn hallway and glance over your shoulder, but the glow of the algae has already faded, and you can no longer see the handsome cecaelia.

Nor do you see the female cecaelia with tentacles as red as blood emerge from deeper in the cavern and give him a pitying look as he clutches his black-tipped fingers to his chest.

* * *

Your tail- now as bright and beautiful as a gem- did in fact catch the attention of the mer you fancied, but somehow… there was something missing.

So you visited the cecaelia again.

* * *

“Hello?” you call into the pitch black, straining your eyes to see anything, anything at all.

The globes of algae alight and the male cecaelia is there again. You’d nearly forgotten how beautiful he is.

“Most don’t return after they make a deal with me,” he says, regarding you curiously. “Is there something wrong with my enchantment?”

You smile at him, melancholy. “No, my tail is beautiful- exactly what I asked for.”

But that only seems to confuse him more. “Then why have you returned?” he asks, tone unreadable.

You frown at that. “I’m afraid I’m still not happy. Do you have a way to make my hair more… luxurious?” you ask hopefully.

His smile is small. “Yes, and I’ll do it for you.”

You beam at him, tail swishing excitedly. “What would you ask of me in return?”

“The name of your favorite place,” he answers after a brief pause.

You don’t pause to think about how that hardly seems like a fair deal, too elated to care. “It’s a deal!” you say eagerly, sticking your hand out.

Once again his tentacle shakes your hand, but you’re expecting it this time and it’s much less disconcerting, though the feeling of his suckers still lingers.

“Wait here,” he says patiently before he turns in and disappears into the dark, a flurry of tentacles, his long, dark brown hair flowing through the water in a nearly hypnotizing way.

You putter back and forth in place, waiting as patiently as you can manage, but he appears barely a few breaths later, a bone-white comb in hand. “Brush your hair with this every day,” he says, holding the comb for you to take with his right hand. You reach for it, but he doesn’t release it.

A chuckle escapes your lips. “Sorry. My favorite place is in Atlantis, right on the edge of city, looking out over the open water.”

His smile is genuine as he lets you take the comb from his hand. “Travel safely, (Y/N).”

You pause and feel heat rise to your cheeks at the sound of your name on his lips and smile shyly. “Thank you again,” you say, then quickly turn and race out of the cavern, heart beating in your chest.

You don’t see the way he stares at this left hand- now black and gnarled- with a grimace.

* * *

You visit the cecaelia more than you ever thought you would. He always gives you fantastic gifts and asks for nearly nothing in return. You wonder why the old mermatrons warned you about them at all.

But with each boon you gain from the cecaelia, the emptier your heart grows. You realize that those around you are only there because of your looks, which were only given to you by a spell. 

A spell from the cecaelia.

* * *

You propel yourself forward into the cavern with almost lazy flicks of your tail, having long learned the twisting hall well enough that you could likely navigate it with your eyes closed.

“Hello?” you call out to the darkness as soon as the walls open up around you. In a second the lights will turn on and…

The darkness stays impenetrable and all-encompassing and you feel the beginnings of anxiety run down your spine. Sure, your fins can pick up some vibrations in the water, but seeing nothing buy inky blackness makes the mind wander faster than is healthy.

“Hello?” you try again, voice shaking slightly.

“(Y/N)?”

You swivel in the water, ears perked and curious. “Is that you? Where are you?” you ask the darkness, hesitant to swim forward for fear of being unable to find your way out.

“Please go. I’m afraid I can’t make a deal today.”

It’s his voice, but it’s quiet. Weak. Tremors audible in every word.

Your tail moves of its own accord, propelling you towards the sound of his voice.

“Are you hurt?” you ask, worry for him overriding all other thought.

“No, just-” his voice cuts off and you nearly miss the pained groaned over the sound of water rushing past your ears. “Just busy today. Please, go.”

You swim into him due to the fact that you _still_ can’t see anything, but the gasp of pain is undeniably his. Tentacles hold you in place and you fight against the urge to pull away.

“You’re hurt.” At this point it’s a statement, not a question. The tentacles start to unwind from your wrist and tail, but you grab one before it gets very far away.

“A fight with another cecaelia. I’ll be fine in a bit. Please, don’t worry.” His voice is close and you reach blindly but carefully, biting back a triumphant exaltation when your hand closes around his shoulder. He goes still at the touch but at least doesn’t make any pained noises. Not hurt on this shoulder, then.

“Please just show me. I won’t leave until I know you’re not gravely hurt,” you argue.

There’s a long pause and you’re a half second away from asking him to turn the lights on again when the balls of algae flick on and you can, at last, see.

Your eyes fall to him and you gasp, hand clapping over your mouth in horror.

His left arm- all the way to his shoulder and then some- is gnarled and black, obviously afflicted by some dark magic.

You find yourself flitting closer without thinking about it, hands hovering a hair’s breadth away from his arm. “You _are_ hurt. Badly,” you say, shocked. He frowns and tries to turn his body so the injured arm is hidden behind him, but he barely moves at all before he hisses and freezes, eyes crinkling with pain. “How did this happen?” you ask him, confused and needing to help. He was- important. Not just because of his magic.

Because of his soft smiles and stormy eyes and sharp wit and gentle questions.

“It’s not important,” he says instead of anything constructive, and you bite back a groan of annoyance.

“It’s because of you,” a voice says from the darkness.

You jump in surprise, but the cecaelia is glaring at a spot behind you. “Go away, Natalia. This doesn’t concern you.”

A beautiful red-tentacled cecaelia woman with sparkling green eyes materializes out of the shadows and jets towards you, her eyes sharp and dangerous as she regards you. “It does when you refuse to take care of yourself,” she counters, sparing him only a glance as she continues her visual onslaught on you.

“I don’t understand,” you say to her, glancing worriedly between her and the male cecaelia.

“The deals he made are finally catching up to him,” Natalia says, barreling right over the sharp rebuke of “Don’t, Natalia!” from the male. She gives him a sharp look. “No, James. She has to hear this from _someone_.” She looks back to you, face turning a little more considering. “His deals- he wasn’t taking anything from you, not really. That hurts us in the long run. With nothing to take from you, it takes from us instead. For example-” she points at his arm, brow pulling low over her eyes, anger plain as day.

“I didn’t know,” you murmur, staring down at the blackened, decrepit arm in horror. “I didn’t know,” you repeat, gaze flicking between her and James, hoping for them to understand. You don’t want to hurt him- you never wanted to hurt your black-tentacled cecaelia.

Natalia snorts, though the sound is devoid of amusement. “How could you? He didn’t tell you. And now the arm is too far gone to save.”

James grimaces but it’s clear from the resignation in his eyes that he knows Natalia’s right.

But you set your jaw, and stare James dead in the eye. “I want to make a deal.”

Natalia goes still next to you, but her eyes burn with fury. “What did you just say?”

But you ignore her and keep your eyes on James, who’s looking at you with a hurt expression. “I want to trade you everything you’ve ever given me and in return I want you to heal your arm.”

You can see Natalia’s shoulders sag out of the corner of your eye, but you only have eyes for James, who’s looking at you with a slack-jawed, surprised expression.

“Can… can she do that?” James asks, eyes flicking to Natalia, eyebrow raised in question.

Natalia throws her hands up in exasperation, an annoyed groan leaving her lips. “I don’t know, James, but it’s better than doing nothing or chopping your arm off.”

His gaze slides back to you and you stick your hand out, eyes steely and determined.

“You have a deal,” he says quietly. For the first time since you met him he takes your hand in his own and gives it a single, firm shake.

The water around you churns and glows and you try to bite back the scream in your throat, but fail. The ear-splitting sound has Natalia covering her ears and Bucky cringing away, hand still clasped firmly around yours.

You can feel the magic draining out of you and into him and you realize, all at once, what the old mer were talking about. This was a real deal with a cecaelia.

* * *

When you come to, the first things you see are James’ gently undulating black tentacles. It takes you a moment to realize that the gentle swaying motion you’re feeling isn’t a current, but James himself. You blink a few times to clear your eyes, finally focusing on James’ face, which is surprisingly close to yours.

_Oh, I’m on his lap._

No sooner has the thought formed than his arms are around you, pulling you tightly to his chest.

“It worked,” he murmurs into your hair, voice quiet and reverent. You can’t help but hug him back, giggling when his tentacles wrap themselves around you in the most all-encompassing hug you’ve ever experienced.

A flash of silver catches your eye and you look down at his arm and gasp. 

He lets you go enough to look down at it, a smirk dancing on his lips. His left arm is covered in silver scales, bright as Poseidon’s trident itself, all the way up to his shoulder. “Yes, it seems your deal has given my arm a bit of a mer twist. It works just as well as- oof!” His explanation is cut abruptly short as you throw yourself at him, arms going around his neck and knocking the water from his lungs. “What is it?” he asks hesitantly even as his arms go around your waist.

“I’m sorry I hurt you, James” you whimper, shoving your face into his chest, unable to look him in the eye.

Something soft an vulnerable appears in his eyes when you say his name. “Shh, it’s alright. It wasn’t your fault. It was my own choice,” he says soothingly as he runs a hand through your hair.

“Why?” you croak, not daring to lift your head.

But he catches your chin with his finger and tilts your head up so you’re forced to look at him. “Because you were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and I couldn’t stomach the thought of taking something from you or leaving you without your request fulfilled.”

You stare at him for a few beats, blinking slowly, before his words finally sink in. Your mouth pulls into a frown, confusion crinkling your brow. “But… but I’m not beautiful anymore.”

He just smiles at you and shakes his head slightly. “You were always beautiful. You just didn’t realize it.”


End file.
